Like the Wii Fit, the UGG Cardy Crochet boot is nearly impossible to find this holiday season.  And, of course, they're the only thing my 12-year old niece Caroline wants for Christmas.  What's a good uncle to do? Search the web, as I did, on behalf of Caroline's desperate grandmother.  Here's what I found.  There are a couple of websites that seem to offer them in stock, but seem shady*.  Nordstrom's shows them in stock at a couple of stores, but this turned out to be phantom inventory, as calls to every one of those stores confirmed.  That leaves ebay.  There are lots of UGG Cardy's on ebay, and it's a good bet that a lot of them are fakes.  I am particularly wary of sellers who are shipping from Hong Kong or China, where knock-offs are king.  I chose a US-based "power seller" with a significant number of positive feedback, including positive feedback on UGG Cardy purchases.  It's still possible they are knock-offs, but the positive feedback at least gives me confidence that my 12-year old neice won't be able to tell the difference.  And if she does, paying by paypal through ebay gives me some recourse. 

*Steer clear of web retailers who have hotmail or yahoo email addresses, and accept only western union or paypal payments.  (Paypal offers great protection when you're shopping on ebay, but not when you're sending money to some random Etailer in who-knows-where.)